diff --git a/docs/networking/gateway.md b/docs/networking/gateway.md
index 63838294..7fe765e1 100644
--- a/docs/networking/gateway.md
+++ b/docs/networking/gateway.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # hive-gateway
 
-Single nginx in front of every hyperhive web surface. Runs on the **host**, next to hive-c0re, rather than in its own container: it shares the host netns anyway (see [Vhost map](#vhost-map) below), so containerizing it would buy no network isolation while costing a resolv.conf sync, a machine-bus reload, and three bind mounts. System-config (not meta-flake managed). Configured via `services.hyperhive.gateway.*` + per-subsystem opt-in flags in `services.hyperhive.{forge,matrix,...}`.
+Single nginx in front of every hyperhive web surface. Runs on the **host**, next to hive-c0re, rather than in its own container: it shares the host netns anyway (see [Vhost map](#vhost-map) below), so containerizing it would buy no network isolation while costing a resolv.conf sync, a machine-bus reload, and three bind mounts. System-config (not meta-flake managed). Configured via `services.hyperhive.gateway.*` + per-subsystem opt-in flags in `services.hyperhive.{forge,matrix,...}`. `gateway.enable` and `gateway.dns.enable` are asserted by the modules that need them, so a host serving a vhost or resolving hive names gets them without an opt-in.
 
 ## Vhost map
 
diff --git a/docs/networking/network.md b/docs/networking/network.md
index 0fb39114..920689e7 100644
--- a/docs/networking/network.md
+++ b/docs/networking/network.md
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 # hive-network
 
-Host-side bridge + per-agent private-netns isolation — always on
-whenever hyperhive is enabled. Configured via
-`services.hyperhive.network.*`.
+Host-side bridge + per-agent private-netns isolation, up on a host
+where something attaches to it (`services.hyperhive.network.enable`,
+asserted by the modules that need it rather than set by hand).
+Configured via `services.hyperhive.network.*`.
 
 > Isolation is the only mode — there is no shared-netns fallback. The
-> former `services.hyperhive.network.enable`,
-> `services.hyperhive.network.isolateContainers` and
+> former `services.hyperhive.network.isolateContainers` and
 > `services.hyperhive.network.upstreamDns` options were removed; a
 > config that still sets one fails eval with a removal message.
 
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix
index ddcb674f..f587489e 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix
@@ -158,6 +158,13 @@ in
   ];
 
   config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
+    # This module is the host's only knowledge that agent containers
+    # exist: they hang off the bridge, resolve through dnsmasq, and their
+    # UIs — plus the operator dashboard — are served by the gateway.
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+    services.hyperhive.network.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
     # The daemon that owns every container on this hive, and the helper it
     # delegates its root operations to. An agent asking why a container did
     # not come up is asking about one of these two.
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-ci.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-ci.nix
index 3cb86f5c..536ce785 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-ci.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-ci.nix
@@ -177,6 +177,13 @@ in
     # name follows that attr rather than `cfg.name`.
     services.hyperhive.swarm.otel.journaldUnits = [ "gitea-runner-hive" ];
 
+    # The runner container has a private netns of its own, so it is
+    # attached to the bridge and reaches the forge by name through the
+    # gateway vhost the assertion above already insists on.
+    services.hyperhive.network.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
     # Create /run/hive-ci/ on the host and seed runner-token with a
     # placeholder. The container bind-mounts this file read-only; hive-c0re
     # (via hive-priv's RegisterCiRunner) overwrites it with the real
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-forge/default.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-forge/default.nix
index 32bb8921..1b22d878 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-forge/default.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-forge/default.nix
@@ -455,6 +455,11 @@ in
     # fronts forgejo themselves, so this hive must neither claim the
     # vhost nor answer DNS for it.
     services.hyperhive.gateway.localNames = lib.optional deployCfg.forgejo.behindGateway cfg.domain;
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkIf deployCfg.forgejo.behindGateway (lib.mkDefault true);
+
+    # Not conditional on `behindGateway`: the forge container resolves the
+    # rest of the hive through dnsmasq whoever fronts it.
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
 
     # This swarm-ui quick-links entry, same `behindGateway` guard as the
     # vhost/DNS name above — with it off, this host doesn't actually
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/default.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/default.nix
index fe71e7f7..d0e74831 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/default.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/default.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
 # Full vhost map + discovery flow + design rationale in
 # `docs/networking/gateway.md`. Layout: ./options.nix (option declarations),
 # ./vhosts.nix (the nginx virtual-host tree), ./error-pages.nix
-# (styled static pages), ./dnsmasq.nix (resolver + DHCP config).
+# (styled static pages), ./dns.nix + ./dnsmasq.nix (the resolver, which
+# has an enable of its own because a host can need hive names to resolve
+# without serving a vhost).
 {
   pkgs,
   lib,
@@ -23,7 +25,6 @@ let
   swarmServiceDomains = config.services.hyperhive.swarm.serviceDomains;
   matrixCfg = config.services.hyperhive.swarm.matrix;
   matrixDeployCfg = config.services.hyperhive.deploy.matrix;
-  networkCfg = config.services.hyperhive.network;
 
   # Every vhost claiming `default_server`, ours and the operator's
   # alike. Computed once so the assertion below and the message it
@@ -113,9 +114,12 @@ let
   };
 in
 {
-  imports = [ ./options.nix ];
+  imports = [
+    ./options.nix
+    ./dns.nix
+  ];
 
-  config = lib.mkIf config.services.hyperhive.enable {
+  config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
     # Publish the kit. Defined here rather than as an option `default`
     # so it stays a plain value computed once from resolved cert paths —
     # `tlsFor` closes over `svcCert`/`svcKey`, which are derived in this
@@ -126,13 +130,7 @@ in
     # is the one unit that can say a service was unreachable rather than
     # merely quiet. Named even on hives that run no swarm collector: the
     # option is inert unless one is collecting on this host.
-    #
-    # dnsmasq alongside it for the same reason one level down: a name that
-    # stops resolving presents as every client timing out at once.
-    services.hyperhive.swarm.otel.journaldUnits = [
-      "nginx"
-      "dnsmasq"
-    ];
+    services.hyperhive.swarm.otel.journaldUnits = [ "nginx" ];
 
     assertions = [
       {
@@ -255,32 +253,6 @@ in
       "f /var/lib/hive-gateway/conf/gateway.htpasswd 0644 hive-core hive-core - -"
     ];
 
-    # The host asks the hive's own resolver, at the BRIDGE IP.
-    #
-    # Every container inherits a COPY of this host's `/etc/resolv.conf`
-    # at start (`nixos-containers.nix`: `cp --remove-destination`, one
-    # shot, not a bind-mount) — so whatever address is written here is
-    # the address every container will try, in its own netns.
-    #
-    # 🚨 That is why this is the bridge IP and not `127.0.0.1`, and the
-    # distinction is load-bearing rather than stylistic:
-    #
-    #   value       host   host-netns containers   bridged containers
-    #   127.0.0.1    ok            ok               THEIR OWN loopback
-    #   bridge IP    ok            ok                      ok
-    #
-    # dnsmasq binds both `lo` and the bridge (./dnsmasq.nix), so the
-    # bridge IP is reachable from the host too — it is the only value
-    # correct on both sides of a netns boundary. `resolveLocalQueries`
-    # publishes loopback by default, hence both overrides here; the
-    # flag stays on for its `resolv-file` plumbing, which is what keeps
-    # dnsmasq's own upstreams out of the file we are pointing at it.
-    #
-    # Cost, stated because it is real: the host's DNS now depends on
-    # dnsmasq being up. Every container already did.
-    networking.nameservers = lib.mkForce [ networkCfg.bridgeIp ];
-    networking.resolvconf.useLocalResolver = lib.mkForce false;
-
     # ACME (Let's Encrypt) integration. nginx vhosts set
     # `enableACME = true` via the vhost builder; this provides the
     # shared ACME config (acceptTerms + email).
@@ -423,18 +395,6 @@ in
     # dir removes the need and the exposure together. Re-adding this line
     # would restore both.
 
-    # dnsmasq is a host service alongside nginx, so it reads the host's
-    # /etc/resolv.conf directly and picks up network changes as they
-    # happen — no copy to keep in sync.
-    services.dnsmasq = import ./dnsmasq.nix {
-      inherit
-        lib
-        cfg
-        networkCfg
-        hyperhiveDomain
-        ;
-    };
-
     networking.firewall = lib.mkIf cfg.openFirewall {
       allowedTCPPorts = [
         cfg.port
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/dns.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/dns.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3b635811
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/dns.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+# The hive's dnsmasq resolver. Split out of ./default.nix because it has
+# its own enable: a host can need hive names to resolve without serving a
+# single vhost. Option declared in ./options.nix, config rendered by
+# ./dnsmasq.nix.
+{
+  lib,
+  config,
+  ...
+}:
+let
+  cfg = config.services.hyperhive.gateway;
+  networkCfg = config.services.hyperhive.network;
+  hyperhiveDomain = config.services.hyperhive.domain;
+in
+{
+  config = lib.mkIf cfg.dns.enable {
+    # dnsmasq is a host service alongside nginx, so it reads the host's
+    # /etc/resolv.conf directly and picks up network changes as they
+    # happen — no copy to keep in sync.
+    services.dnsmasq = import ./dnsmasq.nix {
+      inherit
+        lib
+        cfg
+        networkCfg
+        hyperhiveDomain
+        ;
+    };
+
+    # dnsmasq binds the bridge interface and answers with the bridge
+    # address, so the resolver is itself a consumer one layer down.
+    services.hyperhive.network.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
+    # A name that stops resolving presents as every client timing out at
+    # once, so this unit's journal is worth reading swarm-wide.
+    services.hyperhive.swarm.otel.journaldUnits = [ "dnsmasq" ];
+
+    # The host asks the hive's own resolver, at the BRIDGE IP.
+    #
+    # Every container inherits a COPY of this host's `/etc/resolv.conf`
+    # at start (`nixos-containers.nix`: `cp --remove-destination`, one
+    # shot, not a bind-mount) — so whatever address is written here is
+    # the address every container will try, in its own netns.
+    #
+    # 🚨 That is why this is the bridge IP and not `127.0.0.1`, and the
+    # distinction is load-bearing rather than stylistic:
+    #
+    #   value       host   host-netns containers   bridged containers
+    #   127.0.0.1    ok            ok               THEIR OWN loopback
+    #   bridge IP    ok            ok                      ok
+    #
+    # dnsmasq binds both `lo` and the bridge (./dnsmasq.nix), so the
+    # bridge IP is reachable from the host too — it is the only value
+    # correct on both sides of a netns boundary. `resolveLocalQueries`
+    # publishes loopback by default, hence both overrides here; the
+    # flag stays on for its `resolv-file` plumbing, which is what keeps
+    # dnsmasq's own upstreams out of the file we are pointing at it.
+    #
+    # Cost, stated because it is real: the host's DNS now depends on
+    # dnsmasq being up. Every container already did.
+    networking.nameservers = lib.mkForce [ networkCfg.bridgeIp ];
+    networking.resolvconf.useLocalResolver = lib.mkForce false;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/options.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/options.nix
index 010c96b5..5682144d 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/options.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/options.nix
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
-# Option declarations for `services.hyperhive.gateway.*`. The gateway
-# is always run alongside hyperhive (it's the single nginx in front of
-# every surface and the only thing exposed to the outside); there is
-# no enable flag. An operator who wants their own reverse proxy in
-# front points it at the gateway's `port`.
+# Option declarations for `services.hyperhive.gateway.*`. The gateway is
+# the single nginx in front of every surface and the only thing exposed
+# to the outside. An operator who wants their own reverse proxy in front
+# points it at the gateway's `port`.
 {
   lib,
   config,
@@ -22,6 +21,18 @@ in
   ];
 
   options.services.hyperhive.gateway = {
+    enable = lib.mkOption {
+      type = lib.types.bool;
+      default = false;
+      description = "Run the hive's reverse proxy (nginx) on this host.";
+    };
+
+    dns.enable = lib.mkOption {
+      type = lib.types.bool;
+      default = false;
+      description = "Run the hive's resolver (dnsmasq) on this host.";
+    };
+
     port = lib.mkOption {
       type = lib.types.port;
       default = 80;
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-matrix.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-matrix.nix
index 53aa9c15..eeb72d16 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-matrix.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-matrix.nix
@@ -705,6 +705,11 @@ in
     # than fronted, so there is no name to claim and no vhost to serve —
     # every clause below carries that guard.
     services.hyperhive.gateway.localNames = lib.optional (cfg.gatewayHost != null) cfg.gatewayHost;
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkIf (cfg.gatewayHost != null) (lib.mkDefault true);
+
+    # Unguarded, unlike the two above: the homeserver container resolves
+    # through the hive's dnsmasq whether or not the gateway fronts it.
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
 
     # The homeserver's own journal (`tuwunel` is the unit name inside the
     # container, whatever the nixpkgs option is called), plus the host-side
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-network.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-network.nix
index c37cefe4..9c1c608e 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-network.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-network.nix
@@ -29,16 +29,10 @@ let
   networkBase = builtins.bitAnd (ipToInt cfg.bridgeIp) (4294967295 - hostCount + 1);
 in
 {
-  # Hive-internal network — host-side bridge + per-agent DNS resolver.
-  # Always active when hyperhive is enabled: agent containers run in
-  # private netns behind the bridge. Full design: docs/networking/network.md.
+  # Hive-internal network — the host-side bridge every container in a
+  # private netns hangs off. Full design: docs/networking/network.md.
 
   imports = [
-    (lib.mkRemovedOptionModule [ "services" "hyperhive" "network" "enable" ] ''
-      The hive network (bridge + dnsmasq resolver + private-netns
-      isolation) is always on whenever hyperhive is enabled. Remove the
-      setting.
-    '')
     (lib.mkRemovedOptionModule [ "services" "hyperhive" "network" "isolateContainers" ] ''
       Network isolation is the only mode and is always on whenever
       hyperhive is enabled; the shared-netns path was removed. Remove
@@ -52,6 +46,12 @@ in
   ];
 
   options.services.hyperhive.network = {
+    enable = lib.mkOption {
+      type = lib.types.bool;
+      default = false;
+      description = "Bring up the hive bridge, its NAT and its firewall rules on this host.";
+    };
+
     bridgeName = lib.mkOption {
       type = lib.types.str;
       default = "hive-br0";
@@ -148,9 +148,10 @@ in
   };
 
   config = lib.mkMerge [
-    # The hive network + container isolation are unconditional whenever
-    # hyperhive is enabled: the shared-netns mode was removed, so there
-    # is one mode (private netns behind the bridge).
+    # Identity checks belong to hyperhive being on, not to the bridge
+    # being up: a hive with no domain is misconfigured either way, and
+    # moving them under the bridge gate would hide them on exactly the
+    # hosts that are hardest to debug.
     (lib.mkIf config.services.hyperhive.enable {
       # This message is only useful if an operator can actually reach
       # it, and an assertion competes with every eager default that
@@ -206,7 +207,11 @@ in
           '';
         }
       ];
+    })
 
+    # The bridge itself, up only where something hangs off it. Private
+    # netns is still the only container mode.
+    (lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
       # Virtual bridge — each agent container attaches a veth pair (isolation
       # is unconditional now).
       networking.bridges.${cfg.bridgeName}.interfaces = [ ];
@@ -233,9 +238,10 @@ in
       };
     })
 
-    # Container isolation overlay — now unconditional (the shared-netns
-    # mode was removed). See docs/networking/network.md#container-isolation.
-    (lib.mkIf config.services.hyperhive.enable {
+    # Container isolation overlay — the routing, NAT and firewall half of
+    # the same bridge, so it rides the same gate.
+    # See docs/networking/network.md#container-isolation.
+    (lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
 
       # Agents route internet traffic via the bridge; NAT masquerades their RFC-1918 IPs.
       boot.kernel.sysctl."net.ipv4.ip_forward" = 1;
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/otel.nix b/nix/host-modules/otel.nix
index 77df0175..9cc0745b 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/otel.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/otel.nix
@@ -336,6 +336,10 @@ in
       # the port on the bridge interface only.
       services.hyperhive.network.exposeHostPorts = [ otel.collector.port ];
 
+      # …and the receiver binds that bridge address, so the interface has
+      # to exist. `exposeHostPorts` is a firewall hole, not a demand.
+      services.hyperhive.network.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
       # The collector scrapes itself. Its own counters — refused, failed,
       # queue depth — are the only signal that says telemetry is being
       # dropped, and they reach no store unless something reads them.
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-authelia.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-authelia.nix
index 3b03796d..8d3596fa 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-authelia.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-authelia.nix
@@ -1096,6 +1096,11 @@ in
     # bridge at that wrong answer.
     services.hyperhive.gateway.localNames = [ cfg.domain ];
 
+    # This host serves the vhost, and the container behind it resolves
+    # through the hive's dnsmasq.
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
     # The bridge as well as authelia: it is the half that writes the identity
     # store, and its refusals are returned to callers as a bare 401.
     #
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-bao.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-bao.nix
index dd752c28..762cab99 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-bao.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-bao.nix
@@ -819,6 +819,13 @@ in
       # this file's header. `localNames` is the one half of the sibling
       # pattern that applies.
       services.hyperhive.gateway.localNames = [ cfg.domain ];
+
+      # All three, and no vhost among them: the `ssl_preread` stream
+      # server below needs the nginx process without asking it to serve
+      # anything, and it listens on the bridge address.
+      services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+      services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+      services.hyperhive.network.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
     })
 
     (lib.mkIf (hyperhiveCfg.enable && deployCfg.bao.enable) {
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-grafana.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-grafana.nix
index 48252441..f6e9d209 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-grafana.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-grafana.nix
@@ -385,6 +385,11 @@ in
     # hive declaring the vhost would answer for a service it does not have.
     services.hyperhive.gateway.localNames = [ cfg.domain ];
 
+    # This host serves the vhost, and the container behind it resolves
+    # through the hive's dnsmasq.
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
     # The secret oneshots as well as grafana itself: each runs before it and
     # fails in ways grafana then reports only as a login that does not work.
     #
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-nats.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-nats.nix
index 1e7145da..a13974c3 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-nats.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-nats.nix
@@ -439,6 +439,10 @@ in
       "swarm-nats-auth"
     ];
 
+    # Resolver only: NATS speaks its own protocol, so nginx fronts
+    # nothing here — but the auth responder introspects authelia by name.
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
     assertions = [
       {
         # Fail at EVAL, not at boot: a queue that comes up unable to
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-otel.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-otel.nix
index 3e5271f6..fc62e281 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-otel.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-otel.nix
@@ -570,6 +570,11 @@ in
     # vhost would answer for a service it does not have.
     services.hyperhive.gateway.localNames = [ cfg.domain ];
 
+    # This host serves the vhost, and the container behind it resolves
+    # through the hive's dnsmasq.
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
     # This collector reads its own journal, so a pipeline that stops
     # delivering says so in the store it stopped delivering to. That is
     # less circular than it sounds: the failure that matters here is a
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-required-services.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-required-services.nix
index bc57d663..a7e392cc 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-required-services.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-required-services.nix
@@ -87,6 +87,18 @@ in
   # hive that is not the service host is a *client* of it, not a second one.
   config.services.hyperhive.deploy.victorialogs.enable = lib.mkDefault deployCfg.allSwarmServices;
 
+  # The plumbing those services are reached over: every one of them is
+  # fronted by the gateway, resolved through the hive's dnsmasq, and runs
+  # in a container hanging off the bridge. Written as `mkIf … mkDefault`
+  # rather than `mkDefault allSwarmServices` because the modules that need
+  # these also assert them — a `false` from here would collide with their
+  # `true` instead of losing to it.
+  config.services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkIf deployCfg.allSwarmServices (lib.mkDefault true);
+  config.services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkIf deployCfg.allSwarmServices (
+    lib.mkDefault true
+  );
+  config.services.hyperhive.network.enable = lib.mkIf deployCfg.allSwarmServices (lib.mkDefault true);
+
   # The secret store. Once per swarm and optional, so it belongs to the
   # same switch: a hive that does not run it is a *client*, reading its
   # own secrets from whoever does. `mkDefault` is what keeps the store
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-ui.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-ui.nix
index 44844b87..f196d0b2 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-ui.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-ui.nix
@@ -132,6 +132,10 @@ in
     # makes the name resolve at all.
     services.hyperhive.gateway.localNames = [ apex ];
 
+    # Gateway only — static files served by nginx, no container of its
+    # own and so nothing to resolve.
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
     # This UI's own swagger docs, always same-origin (`/api/docs/` below)
     # so — unlike authelia/matrix/forge's entries — this one needs no
     # host name and is never conditional on anything but this module
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-victorialogs.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-victorialogs.nix
index 8ee8f2db..d312b5cf 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-victorialogs.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-victorialogs.nix
@@ -153,6 +153,11 @@ in
     # `swarm-victoriametrics.nix`).
     services.hyperhive.gateway.localNames = [ cfg.domain ];
 
+    # This host serves the vhost, and the container behind it resolves
+    # through the hive's dnsmasq.
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
     # Declared here rather than in the collector, so this store's logs are
     # collected because it runs, not because a list elsewhere remembered it.
     services.hyperhive.swarm.otel.journaldUnits = [ "victorialogs" ];
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-victoriametrics.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-victoriametrics.nix
index 5758bafb..90430733 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-victoriametrics.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-victoriametrics.nix
@@ -103,6 +103,11 @@ in
     # have.
     services.hyperhive.gateway.localNames = [ cfg.domain ];
 
+    # This host serves the vhost, and the container behind it resolves
+    # through the hive's dnsmasq.
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+    services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
+
     # Declared here rather than in the collector, so this store's logs are
     # collected because it runs, not because a list elsewhere remembered it.
     services.hyperhive.swarm.otel.journaldUnits = [ "victoriametrics" ];
diff --git a/nix/module-eval.nix b/nix/module-eval.nix
index 7ba38cf1..e8607cb1 100644
--- a/nix/module-eval.nix
+++ b/nix/module-eval.nix
@@ -104,8 +104,20 @@ let
   # that quietly re-introduces the dependency — or that changes what the
   # default renders for a hive with the toggle on — fails here. Reading an
   # option off this fixture forces that option only, not the config, so the
-  # toggle being off costs nothing.
+  # toggle being off costs nothing. Also the "installs the modules and turns
+  # nothing on" host the swarm-service absences below read: none of the
+  # per-service deployment toggles derives from the hive being on, so it
+  # renders the same absences `bare` does.
   centralToggleOff = hive { enable = false; };
+
+  # The swarm-services toggle with the central one off, so the only thing
+  # that can enable the gateway/resolver/bridge here is that toggle's own
+  # module — every other module that asserts them is behind `enable`.
+  swarmServicesOnly = hive {
+    enable = false;
+    deploy.allSwarmServices = true;
+  };
+
   withCi = hive { deploy.forgejo.ci.enable = true; };
 
   # A host configured against the pre-rename option path. `mkRenamedOptionModule`
@@ -3237,6 +3249,48 @@ let
       name = "the swarm UI claims the swarm apex where this host serves it";
       ok = swarmUiHere.services.nginx.virtualHosts ? "t.local";
     }
+    {
+      # The three infrastructure toggles are off by default and asserted by
+      # whoever needs them. With nothing on the host needing them, none of
+      # the three renders — which is also the control for the arm below.
+      name = "the gateway, resolver and bridge are absent where nothing on the host needs them";
+      ok =
+        !centralToggleOff.services.hyperhive.gateway.enable
+        && !centralToggleOff.services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable
+        && !centralToggleOff.services.hyperhive.network.enable
+        && !(centralToggleOff.services.nginx.enable or false)
+        && !(centralToggleOff.services.dnsmasq.enable or false)
+        && !(centralToggleOff.networking.bridges ? hive-br0);
+    }
+    {
+      # hive-c0re asserts all three, and it follows the central toggle — so
+      # an ordinary hive keeps getting them with no opt-in, which is what
+      # this change must not break.
+      name = "an ordinary hive runs the gateway, resolver and bridge because its coordinator needs them";
+      ok =
+        bare.services.hyperhive.gateway.enable
+        && bare.services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable
+        && bare.services.hyperhive.network.enable
+        && bare.services.nginx.enable
+        && bare.services.dnsmasq.enable
+        && bare.networking.bridges ? hive-br0;
+    }
+    {
+      # The swarm-services toggle enables them explicitly, from its own
+      # module rather than from any of their defaults.
+      name = "the swarm-services toggle turns on the gateway, resolver and bridge by itself";
+      ok =
+        swarmServicesOnly.services.hyperhive.gateway.enable
+        && swarmServicesOnly.services.hyperhive.gateway.dns.enable
+        && swarmServicesOnly.services.hyperhive.network.enable;
+    }
+    {
+      # An operator's explicit `false` beats every `mkDefault` assertion,
+      # which is what keeps "asserted by whoever needs it" from being a
+      # setting the operator cannot turn off.
+      name = "an explicit gateway.enable = false wins over the modules asserting it";
+      ok = !(hive { gateway.enable = false; }).services.nginx.enable;
+    }
   ];
 
   bad = builtins.filter (c: !c.ok) cases;